Combination hulling and rolling machine



March 31, 1953 J. K. ROSKAMP COMBINATION HULLING AND ROLLING MACHINE Filed Sept. 28, 1950 V 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 m, W V m A K o S wsm Q LLK R MLLA UUL GHHF K N a w J 3. J1 G F BY %M ATTORNEY March '31, 1953 J. K. ROSKAMP 7 2,633,072

COMBINATION HULLING AND ROLLING MACHINE Filed Sept. 28, 1950 I 3 Sheets-She e t 5 GRAIN HULLED OATS HULLS FLAKED M INVENTOR JOHN K, ROSKAM P /W%mr ATTORNEY Patented Mar. 31, 1953 OFFICE COMBINATION HULLING AND ROLLING MACHINE John K. Roskamp, Cedar Falls, Iowa Applicationseptember 28, 1950,'Serial No. 187,213

This invention relates to oat hullers in general andmore specifically to a single unit combining both hulling and rolling operations whereby the oats are not only hulled but also flake rolled in a single operation.

Heretofore known machines have been usedfor hulling the green oats and a separate machine in a separate operation was required in order to roll the oats. Such machines necessitated. a large initial investment and also .required a large. amount of space in order to accommodate the machines. When separate machines were used for hulling and flaking, an additional elevating mechanism was also usually required.

.An object of the present invention is to provide a single machine incorporating both operations hulling operation.

Still a further object of the present invention is to provide a complete unit which will hull the pats, separate the hulls, dispose of the hullsand roll the cats to desired .size in a single unit whereby additional equipment is unnecessary With the above and other objects in view which will appear as the description proceeds, my invention consists in the novel features herein set forth, illustrated in the accompanying. drawings and more particularly pointed out in the appended l ms:

'Referring'to'the drawings in which numerals of like character designate similar parts throughout the several views:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of the machine of the present invention;

Figure '2 is an end. elevational view partially broken Figure 3 is-a longitudinal sectional view of the device taken on line 3--3 of Fig. 4.; and '1 Figure 4 is a lateral sectional view through-the machine taken on line 4-4 of Fig. 3.

In the drawings the entire combined unit is depicted in Figure 1 and generally comprises a hulling unit Ill and a rolling unit H. The hulling unit is superimposed on the rolling unit and the hulled oats pass directly from the hulling unit .5 into flaking rolls andthence the groats are re- 6 Claims. (01. 99-237) 2 moved while the hulls are discharged and those oats not hulled are returned to the hulling unit. A hopper I2 is provided on the device into which the green cats are fed and they pass into the tube !3. A screw conveyor H1 in tube [3 is rotatably journalled in ball bearings and raises the date through a bearing box i5 into the hulling chamber 46. Through the chamber Hi there extends a shaft i! which is journalled in three double row flange ball bearings l8. Rotation of the shaft I! is effected by means of pulley sheave is with which a drive belt, not shown; cooperates in association with a source of power of any desired type. i The hulling" chamber I6 has a hulling head cap 20 which is bolted onto the hulling head or hulling chamber and which is also secured to the hearing box. In the top of tube 13 there is an opening through which the cats raised by conveyor 14 .pass into bearing box 15. There is also an opening '25 in the center of the head cap 20 through which the oats pass into the hulling chamber 16. The conveyor l4 extends only to the bottom of the bearing box l5 as seen in Figure 3 of the drawings.

Secured to shaft I! in thehulling chamber 16 are two discs 22 and 23 having projections 24 thereon of rounded configuration adapted to pro.- vide a rolling action to the oats. An adjustable cylinder 25 is provided in the hulling chamber l 6 which by means of handle 26'can be rotated. This cylinder 25 is corrugated thus forming a seriesof projections 21 on the inner face thereof which extend into the chamber [6. On'th'e'external surface of the chamber IS a tapered slot through which a bolt is secured to handle 26and to cylinder 25, extends. When handle 25 is slight- 'tions 21 and 24 is consequently varied to suit the size of cats to be hulled for apparent reasons. The discs 22 and 23 in conjunction with cylinder 25 constitute the hulling surfaces or discs.

A center piece 28 is provided for supporting the center bearing 58. This center piece 28 has an opening therethrough between the hulling chamber It and thererr'iainder of the unit I0. I

A screw conveyor 29 is rotatably journalled in the device and is operated by means of pulley, 30 and policy 3| on shaft l! with belts 32or the like therebetween. The conveyor extends between the two end frames of the machine and through the opening in center piece 28 for conveying, the oats therefromjafter having been subjected to a hulling operation in chamber I6.

' A fan 33 is mounted on shaft l! formation "oats or merely hulled oats.

therewith and this fan creates an air draft on the hulled oats passing along conveyor 29 which draws the hulls from the grain and blows them into a hull bin.

The grain from which the hulls have been partially removed at this point fall into the Carter disc separating chamber 34. In this chamber a plurality of Carter discs 35 on shaft 36 mechanically separate the groats from the remaining hulls and whole oats which have not been completely hulled the first time through the hulling head or chamber l6. Each of the Carter discs 35 has three spokes 31 (Figure 4) on each of which are mounted square pieces of sheet metal 38 which are bent to serve as an auger for conveying grain in the chamber 34 back into conveyor I4. An opening 39 is provided for the return of the grain into conveyor l4 from chamber 34 by the pieces 38. The connection between chamber 34 and conveyor I 4 from opening 39 is seen in dotted lines at H33 in Fig. '3. In this manner the unhulled oats are returned through the hulling chamber 46 a second time.

The Carter disc, as is well known, is a circular member having a large number of pockets on each side thereof of approximately the exact size of an oat groat. When the disc is rotated each of the pockets become filled with an oat groat or hull lying in the bottom of the separating chamher. When a pocket rises into the air stream above the pool the air picks off the hull. The centrifugal action retains the great in the pocket until it travels approximately 270 from the lower vertical. At this point the groat leaves the pocket and is thrown onto a baflle plate 49 below which are mounted the rolls as will be explained hereinafter. The baffie plate 40 can be used for directing the hulled oats into the rollers 45 or outside of the rolling mechanism. This baffle plate enables the operator to obtain hulled and flaked When the grain is hulled only, the rollers can be shut off and the flaking unit is idle. The Carter discs 35 mounted on shaft 36 are driven by a continuous roller chain 66 (Figure 2) from a sprocket on the shaft on which conveyor 29 is mounted.

In order to control the flow of air to fan 33, an air damper I04 is provided which is pivotally mounted and biassed to contact with stationary member I by spring 4|. A handle on the outside of the device rotates the rod 42 which pushes the damper 4| forward or backward over the discs 35. The baliie operates on the principle that, providing the volume of air remains constant, the smaller the aperture the greater will i be the speed of the air.

Also connected to the handle for operating the damper 4!, is another .rod, not shown, which swivels a baffle plate 43. This baflle plate 43 directs the grain to a more vertical fall over the discs 35 when the air damper 4! is adjusted forward for greater severity, or speed of the air. An air damper 44 opens or closes an opening 45 to control the amount of air taken in to the fan 33 from this side.

Rollers 46 are rotatably mounted on shafts 41 which protrude through bearing housings 48 on each side of frame 49 for securing thereto of drive sheaves, not shown. The bearing housings 48 on the back roll are fastened to the frame 49 by means of cap screws 50. The bearings inside the housing are not shown. They are double row, self aligning, sleeve type bearings. On the front roll the housings are movable in and out with respect to the back roll. A flange 5| of the housing at the base slides in a channel made of two angle iron pieces, not shown.

An adjustable tension between the rollers is obtained from the following mechanism. Handles 52 are secured to threaded rods 53 which apply tension against a cast iron block 54 mounted on a shaft 55 on the inside of each channel iron.

This shaft has a cam 56 on each end thereof secured with a key or the like. Behind the cams are three spring leaves 51. These spring leaves are held by earns 56 on the bottom and by angle irons 58 secured to the frame at the top. Pressure is applied in the middle to a knob 59 formed in the center of housing 48. Rapid tensioning and release can be applied to the rolls 46 by a handle I00 secured to the center of shaft 55 for rotating the same and the cam 56 to move the housing 48 by means of knobs 59. When proper tension has been obtained between the rollers as set forth above under operation conditions, a lock nut 133 is tightened against the frame 49 to prevent the handles 52 from getting loose and turning.

On each side of the rollers 46 between the channel iron frame 49, two pieces of sheet metal can be provided to contain and direct the flow of the cat flakes. At the bottom of the machine is an opening from which the finished product is obtained.

The conveyor member I4 is on a feeder shaft 5| driven by sheave 62 through belts 53 and sheave '64 on idler shaft 65 to the drive feeder. (Figure 1.) Shaft 65 is driven by the continuous roller chain 65 from the shaft of screw conveyor '29 which also drives shaft 36 having the Carter discs.

Beneath bearing box I5 is a box 5? and in the bottom of the bearing box is an opening into ation of the device clear.

The end result of the present device is a completely finished product resulting from a continuous process in a single machine which has not heretofore been possible and it is this combination which broadly constitutes the present invention. It is apparent that minor changes in details of construction of the device can be effected without departing from the scope of the present invention as defined in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A device for sequentially and continuously completely hulling, separating and flaking grain comprising in combination, a grain huller and a flaking mechanism for the hulled grain, means for feeding grain to said huller, means for mechanically and continuously moving hulled grain from said huller to said flaking mechanism, means for removing hulls from the grain intermediate said huller and said flaking mechanism, and means associated with said removing means for returning unhulled or partially hulled grain to said huller, and means between said hull removing means and said flaking mechanism operable into alternative selective positions for selec- I from said huller, hull and grain separating means,

return meansfor unhulled or partially hulled grain between said separating means and said huller and flaking means associated with and opening into said separating means for directly receiving and rolling completely hulled grain and a plate between said separating means and said flaking means rotatable into two positions, one for directing hulled grain into said flaking means directly from said separating means and the other for directing hulled grain outside of said device in unflaked condition.

3. A device for treating grain as claimed in claim 2, and a screw conveyor opening into said huller for continuous insertion therein of untreated'grain, said mechanical feed means for removing grain from said huller comprising a screw conveyor entering into the discharge end 5. A device for treating grain as claimed in claim 4 and including air inlet means to said separating means, and air draft control means for varying the intensity of air to said separating means.

6. A device for treating grain as claimed in claim 2, said flaking means comprising two rotatably mounted coacting rollers positioned directly below and open to said hull and grain separating means and adapted to receive directly therefrom hulled grain for flaking, one said roller being movable toward and away from the other of said rollers for varying the pressure therebetween and for rendering said rollers inoperative.

JOHN K. ROSKAMP.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 186,871 Pease Jan. 30, 1877 460,320 Currie Sept. 29, 1891 641,035 Perry Jan. 9,1900

1,279,308 Emenegger et al. Sept. 17, 1918 1,830,028 Johannsen Nov. 3, 1931 OTHER REFERENCES Rosco-Ajax Oat Huller, 4 page pamphlet of the Hart Carter Company, Mfgrs. printing designation OH1-2 /2M-7-21. 

